TFM 238

Varkas lost his mind :""""

At that cold attitude, in which not even the slightest hint of welcome could be found, Gareth’s face twisted wretchedly.

Ayla gently patted her brother’s arm and spoke in a mild voice.

“Come now, let us go inside.”

Then, toward the attendants gathered on one side of the garden, she gave instructions in a calm yet dignified tone.

“Leave only the minimum number of people here. The rest are to wait at the encampment.”

At once, the attendants began to disperse in perfect order.

Watching them, the two imperial siblings soon climbed the steps and entered the main castle.

Varkas, who had entered the hall first and given several orders to the servants, turned toward them and spoke in a dry voice.

“We are in the midst of postwar recovery, so I cannot prepare a grand welcoming ceremony for you. I ask for your understanding.”

“We did not come here to be treated as guests. We understand the circumstances of the grand ducal house, so you may dispense with the troublesome formalities.”

A gracious smile appeared on Ayla’s lips.

Varkas let his gaze rest briefly on that composed face, then nodded toward the maids lined up along the wall.

“Escort our guests to their rooms. While they remain here, see to it that they suffer no inconvenience.”

As he turned to leave, as though he had now done his duty, the corners of Ayla’s mouth, which had never lost their relaxed composure until then, stiffened tightly.

Gareth stepped in front of his twin sister and hurriedly stopped him.

“Wait a moment!”

Varkas looked back over his shoulder.

At that gaze, so plainly filled with annoyance, Gareth’s dark skin flushed visibly red.

If it had been any other time, he would have burst into his fiery temper on the spot. Instead, the man clenched his teeth as though suppressing his humiliation and drew in a deep breath. Then, in a tone that had grown somewhat calmer, he continued.

“I have something important to discuss with you. Arrange a place where we can speak privately.”

“Say it now.”

“It will only take a moment. Surely you can spare that much time for someone who has traveled such a long way.”

Gareth raised his voice, his expression swelling with emotion.

Varkas looked down at his younger second cousin with eyes heavily stained by fatigue, then spoke as though sighing.

“Settle in first. We can speak once I have finished all official duties.”

“I need to speak now—!”

“Gareth.”

Ayla gently restrained her brother as he tried to rush forward with a flushed face.

“We came here to help the grand ducal house. How could we interfere with the grand duke’s work?”

At the tone, as though she were soothing a thoughtless child, Gareth’s eyes sharpened fiercely.

But perhaps realizing that insisting any further would only damage his own dignity, he released the strength from the hand gripping Varkas’s arm. Then he barked at the servants.

“Did you not hear? What are you doing, not showing us to our rooms at once!”

The servants, who had been watching the situation with tense expressions, rushed forward in a fluster as though they had been whipped.

“P-please follow me. I will guide you to your rooms.”

Gareth, who had been glaring at Varkas with blazing eyes, soon turned and followed the servant.

Ayla, too, hesitated for a moment as though she wanted to say something to him, but in the end she followed the maids’ guidance and climbed the stairs connected to the guest rooms.

Once the unwelcome visitors disappeared from sight, Varkas resumed his halted steps.

Passing through the dark corridor and entering his office, the cool air, thick with the scent of ink and candle wax, seeped hazily into his head, fevered with exhaustion.

Feeling his vision go black for an instant, he braced one hand against the doorframe.

How long had he remained standing like that? His strangely wavering sight settled.

As though nothing had happened, he sat down at his desk and picked up the official documents piled beside it.

Then, from close by, a cautious voice was heard.

“Your Grace, shall I bring you some tea that is good for fatigue? I heard you have not eaten anything all day…”

He flinched and raised his head.

Only then did he realize there was someone else in the room.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked at the small-framed man standing by the door.

He could not tell at once who it was.

Perhaps because he had overworked himself too much over the past few months, people’s faces sometimes appeared to him like pale lumps of plaster.

Pressing firmly between his eyes with his fingertips, he waved one hand somewhat irritably.

“I don’t need it. Leave.”

The servant, who had been hesitating as though reluctant, soon opened the door and went out.

Varkas lowered his gaze back to the parchment document.

The city restoration project was proceeding smoothly. Thanks to the bands of looters that had run rampant for some time being rooted out all at once, the flow of supplies had also begun to move smoothly again. The end of the civil war in the north was also serving as a catalyst, breathing vitality into the eastern economy.

Although the investigation into the forces behind all this chaos was making little progress, now that they had seen House Heimdall brought to ruin, they too would have no choice but to lie low.

Unless some major variable arose, the empire’s era would remain secure.

After signing the budget proposal for the construction of new trade facilities throughout the east, Varkas set down his pen and leaned back against his chair.

Before he knew it, it had grown noticeably dark outside the window. He could not tell whether it was because the sun had set or because storm clouds had gathered. At some point, the sky had always seemed to wear that dark ash-gray color.

As he stared with dim eyes at the plains gradually being swallowed by black, a powerful dizziness suddenly struck him, and he covered his eyes with the back of his hand.

Then, at some point, it seemed he lost his grip on consciousness entirely.

Varkas snapped his eyes open at the sound of knocking and looked around the darkened study with a bewildered expression. For a while, he could not understand where he was.

Hadn’t he been in the barracks, preparing to march?

Clutching his throbbing temples, he tried to bring order to the tangled mess in his head, only for an impatient knock to strike his ears again.

“Y-Your Grace, His Highness the Crown Prince is requesting an audience. Wh-what should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should you do? Move aside!”

A rough voice rang out from beyond the door, and soon after, a dark shadow forced its way into the room.

“What on earth are you doing in a place this gloomy?”

The attendant, who had barged in as he pleased, shouted at the servants standing by the door.

“Why have you not lit the lamps at once?”

Immediately, pale light bloomed throughout the room.

Only then was Varkas able to recognize the man standing before him.

Gareth Roem Guirta.

Now that he thought of it, the man had come to the castle earlier that day.

How strange.

Why had he forgotten that?

Varkas frowned, then soon rose from his seat.

“What is it you wished to discuss?”

“Come sit down. This is not something to discuss standing.”

Gareth, who had settled onto the long sofa before the fireplace, picked up one of the glasses the servants had prepared and gestured arrogantly with his chin.

Varkas silently looked down at that haughty face, then finally took the seat across from him.

“I would appreciate it if you kept this brief. I am quite tired.”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of dragging this out either.”

Gareth drained his port wine in large gulps, then spoke in a stiff voice. Despite his outwardly relaxed manner, he seemed rather tense inside; the knuckles of the hand gripping his glass had turned white.

“I sent a formal letter of apology to House Bleston.”

After a long while, he finally began.

“If necessary, I even intend to visit the young lady of House Bleston in person and court her. I understand now that, if we are to soothe public sentiment in the north, there is no choice but to make the daughter of the family representing Balto the crown princess…”

“How very quick of you.”

Varkas, who had been bringing the wineglass handed to him by an attendant to his lips, sneered coldly.

Gareth glared at him, his expression flaring with anger, but then drew in a deep breath as though forcing his temper down before continuing.

“I am apologizing to you right now. I made a mistake. I should have followed your judgment, but I did not. This will never happen again.”

Varkas erased the mocking smile from his lips and stared silently at Gareth’s serious face.

Gareth tapped his fingers against his knee as though restless, then added in a low, subdued voice.

“From now on… no matter what happens, I have decided to trust you. Whatever anyone says, you are on my side, aren’t you?”

“Is that so?”

Varkas tilted his head with a faint smile, as though this were news to him.

Gareth’s face flushed red in an instant.

“You can never betray me. Even if you wanted to, you cannot. Isn’t that right?”

Varkas made no reply.

Taking that silence as affirmation, a triumphant smile spread across Gareth’s lips.

“I wasn’t sure before, but… this incident convinced me. You are physically bound to something. Because of that, you can never stand by and watch if Ayla or I fall into danger. Am I right?”

Leaning forward from where he had been resting against the chairback, the man added with a grin.

“But that does not mean I am ungrateful for your devotion. I still regard you as someone no different from my own brother.”

“How deeply moving.”

Varkas set the wineglass in his hand down on the table and let out a quiet sigh.

“Is that all you wished to say?”

“I have not even gotten to the main point yet.”

Having fully regained his confidence, Gareth continued in a leisurely manner.

“I want to set our alliance, which has gone astray, back on its proper course.”

Varkas raised one eyebrow.

Realizing that the other man had not understood his intention, Gareth added impatiently,

“What I mean is, I want to push forward with your marriage to Ayla again. I have already received His Majesty the Emperor’s approval. If only you accept, everything will proceed without delay.”

For a while, Varkas showed no reaction at all.

Leaning against the armrest as he pressed against his temple, a hollow laugh slipped from his lips.

“I wondered what you were trying to say, drawing it out at such length…”

Varkas shook his head in exasperation, rose from his seat, and picked up his coat.

“I have heard enough nonsense. I believe I have shown you all due courtesy as a subject, so I will take my leave now.”

He turned as if to leave the study, but Gareth hurriedly grabbed him by the shoulder.

“If you need time to sort out your feelings, it does not matter if we proceed sometime next year. If we move forward with the marriage after about a year has passed, people will have nothing to gossip about. Ayla can wait that long…”

“Enough.”

Varkas slapped away the hand on his shoulder and looked down at him with irritated eyes.

“I have said it repeatedly, but I will not divorce her. If you came here to make such an absurd proposal, then leave this castle at once.”

“What are you talking about?”

Gareth looked at him with a confused expression.

“What divorce? You can just marry Ayla…”

Gareth, who had been muttering with a blank expression, suddenly widened his eyes like someone struck by realization.

Varkas looked down at his younger second cousin as if he were utterly sick of him, then exhaled and turned away. He could not even remember the last time he had slept properly. He had no strength left to entertain this man’s tantrum.

He slowly reached out and grasped the doorknob to leave the room.

That was when Gareth roughly turned him around.

“Don’t tell me… you still believe that woman is alive?”

At those words, which crossed the line, Varkas’s eyes froze coldly.

He seized Gareth by the collar and warned him in a sinister voice.

“Do not speak carelessly about my wife. I am certain I made myself clear. If you want me to stand on your side until the end, do not even think of harming her.”

Gareth, who had opened his mouth with a stunned expression, suddenly twisted his face savagely.

“Damn it, you’ve completely lost your mind!”

Gareth shouted, veins standing out in his neck.

“Come to your senses! That woman is dead. Thalia Roem Guirta no longer exists in this world!”

At that moment, he heard something snap inside his head.

Before he could even realize what he was doing, his hand shot out and shoved Gareth’s body back with merciless force.

Before he knew it, both his hands were wrapped around the crown prince’s throat, choking him without restraint.